Sign



' Dec. 27, 1927.

1,654,370 D. M. GOETSCHIUS SIGN Filed Oct. 20, 1926 WITNESSES lNVENTOR A l 3012011 fibefzsclu'a BY W 1 ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 27, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DALTON M. GOETSCHIUS, OF DUMONT, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO RADIUM DIAL COMPANY, OF LONG ISLAND CITY, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

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Application filed October 20, 1926. Serial No. 142,934. I

This invention relates to signs for the .purpose of advertising, signaling, indicating, or for analogous uses, and comprehends a sign with a surface or surfaces having in- G dicia defined thereon by a photoluminescent substance together with means for intermittently subjecting the same to a source of light whereby said substance defining the indicia stores up a quantity of light which ll is subsequently given 03 when the light is removed from said surface or surfaces to render the indicia luminous and readable by virtue of its own luminosity.

Some of the principal and outstanding ob- 1C jects derived from the invention reside in the provision of an improved sign, which is rendered highly attractive to the observer, simple in its construction, economical to produce and operate, and generally eflicient in the purpose for which it is intended.

With these and other objects inviewreference is had to the following specification,-

appended claims and the accompanying drawings in which there is exhibited by way I of example, several embodiments of the invention which are in no way intended as a limitation to the scope of the claims as'it is to beclearly understood that variations and modifications which properly fall within the scope of said claims may be resorted to when found expedient.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating diagrammatically the manner in which theinvention may be reducedto practice;

Fig. 2 is a modification thereof. Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, 10 designates a stationary sign having a surface 11 provided with indicia 12 which are defined by a 'photoluminescent substance commonly known as luminous or phosphorescent paint. In other words,

the substance employed possesses the quality of storing up light fromv an extraneous source of light to which it is subjected to subsequently give off light or to glow by virtue of its own luminosity when the ex-' traneous source of light is removed.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in .Fig. 1, it is proposed to employ a means for intermittently flood-lighting the surface 11 by employing an electric lamp or lamps 13 in a circuit 14 including a source of supply 15 and a suitable automatic cirouit maker-and-breaker 16. Preferably the lamp or lamps 13 will be concealed from view by a suitable covering hood 17, which while concealing the lamps or source of light directly from the eye of the observer, permits of the flood-lighting of the surface 11. In this manner an extremely attractive sign is provided which is especially adapted for advertising purposes in that the indicia 12 are intermittently displayed by the glow of r the luminescent substance and by the floodlighting of the surface 11. The 'photoluminescent substance may be produced in various shades and colors which are distinguishable when glowing under their own luminosity, but which when displayed by a flood light will either appear in the same color or shape or in a different color or shade than when glowing under their own luminosity.

As a modified adaptation of the invention to illustrate a different manner in which the invention may be reduced to practice, Fig. 2 illustrates a sign member 18 as movable so that a portion of the face 19 thereof which'bears the indicia 20 defined by the l luminescent substance, is subjected to an extraneous light for permitting the substance to store up a quantity of light while the,

remaining portion is being displayed. This is accomplished by mounting the moving sign member 18 with a portion disposed in a casing 21 in which a lamp or lamps 22 are mounted to flood light the portion of the surface within the casing. The lamps are arranged in a circuit 23 having a source of A supply 24' and a suitable motor25 which is operatively connected with the sign member 18 for movin the same.

While particularly adapted as an advertising sign for displayinadvertising indicia, it is obvious that t einvention may be used as an indicatingsign such as for exits in theatres, or as a signaling si for trailic .on road sides, or other ana ogous uses.

What is claimed is:

1. A sign having a surface, indicia defined on said surface by a photoluminescent substance, and means for intermittently subjecti'ng said surface to a source of light, whereby the substance defining said indicia stores up a quantity of light which is subsequently given off when the light is removed fromsaid surface to render the indicialuminous and visible by virtue of its own luminosity, comprising a closed casing having a continuous illuminated source of light therein, and means for mounting said sign for continuous movement whereby a portion of the surface having the photoluminescent in-' through the slotted portion and with the remaining portion exposed, and means for moving the sign whereby the portion thereof within the casing is activated by the source of light while the previously activated portion is being displayed.

3. A sign,-including a closed casing having a slot, a circular disk-like element mounted to dispose a portion thereof within the casing through 'said slot and the remaining portion exposed from the casing, a source of light within the casing, means for rotating said element; and indicia defined on the surface of said element bya photoluminescent substance whereby the indicia on the portion within the casing is activated from the source of lightand the indicia on the portion exposed from the casing glows to display said mdicia.

' DALTON M. GOETSCHIUS. 

